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Google Plus Offers Missed Marketing Opportunity For Major Brands While Search Apps Can Increase Traffic

By Jinger Jarrett
Published on: 10:10 PST, Feb 9, 2016

Regardless of business size, Google offers many ways to market a business and increase traffic with very little effort. Mobile apps and Google Plus Business Pages allow businesses to connect with their markets locally by creating listings in Google that are relevant to the location.

Forbes reported that there were six ways that national brands failed at creating an effective local marketing plan. Not implementing a marketing plan at the local level can cost sales, and it’s one of the easiest ways for any business to increase its bottom line.

It’s not enough to put up a Google Business Page. For businesses that have more than one location, the ideal is to put up a page for each location so that customers can find out what they need to know. This includes location and store hours and any special offers customers need to know about as well as company updates. Alaina Shearer, founder and CEO of digital marketing agency Cement Marketing, said that it’s not enough for companies to claim their pages. They need provide regular updates too because this helps with search engine rankings.

“Home Depot claimed all of their Google locations a few years ago but the pages remain stagnant and haven’t been updated since. And worse, Lowe’s doesn’t appear to have any updated Google Local listings. This likely has a negative impact on their search rankings. For national brands, claiming every single location for hundreds or even thousands of locations is daunting. But it’s entirely possible.”

One other important feature of claiming Google Business Pages is that it puts the location of the business on Google Maps. The Google Maps app is the sixth most popular app for smartphone users, and if businesses want to be found, then they need to provide location information on their Google Business Pages so that it shows up on Maps.

As previously reported in Inquisitr, mobile marketing will play a big part of the marketing process in 2016, and it’s an opportunity for small businesses to maximize their revenues when they focus on the right trends. Businesses as a whole will need to make the shift from customer acquisition to value creation. Mobile phones will also become credit cards and bank accounts, so businesses will need to adapt to these new technologies and apps to collect sales.

Smartphones are becoming the new wallet for those who use them, and it allows them to pay for everything from groceries to shopping and food orders. Small businesses that have a mobile app will have a competitive edge as long as that app is geared toward engaging the user in some way.

Search Engine Land reported that small businesses can leverage mobile apps as a way to engage users locally. Although Google isn’t the most used app on a mobile phone, it is the most used search app, and it is the fourth most used app by smartphone users. Google Maps rank number six while Google Plus ranks number 20.

Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date profile on Google Plus influences how well a business ranks in Google. Although there was little difference between mobile search and using the Google app, sometimes the results of the search will change depending on which search results the user is using. For businesses that have more than one location, creating multiple pages and keeping them up to date will help with this. Including the business name, location, contact details, photos, business hours, and a search engine optimized description will also help in ensuring better rankings in Google.

[Photo by Pixabay]

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